Newly released deleted footage from "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" (via Comic Book Movie) gives us some wonderfully weird behind-the-scenes looks at Nic Cage as the Rider, before the digital effects. In one scene, Cage wears black and white makeup with a neon, "Tron"-looking apparatus wrapped around his head.

In the scene, The Ghost Rider apprehends a criminal and gives him the Penance stare, making the bad guy feel pain for all the wron- doing he has ever done.

This scene didn't make the final cut of the movie, so its importance and relevance to the overall plot of the film can be questioned. But it is still very fascinating to see the Ghost Rider before and after the visual effects.

Drew Wood Davies, lead lighter at Digital Pictures Illoura, is no stranger to digital shading and lighting technology. "Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance," one of Davies more recent projects, uses some of the most advanced special effects technology.

When watching some of the deleted scenes, the eerie skull of Johnny Blaze and the demonic face of Roarke, were all rendered through the V-ray dome light system. The V-ray shading and lighting system helps to bring the characters to life with color and depth. But V-ray can also be used with creating hard surface modeling, digital set extension, and building vehicles.

This very user friendly system enables its engineers to capture up to 80 percent of the desired effects in half the time, opposed to other digital editing software. This came in handy as "Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance" involved approximately 400 shots with a flaming skull.

What did you think of the deleted scene? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!